Hello from Guatemala,
We arrived at the Guatemala airport Jan 29 at about midnight. Then we drove about one and half hours to the AIM base in Guatemala. We stayed here for two nights. While at the AIM base our first day included orientation and learning about the culture. Some of my team (including me) took the opportunity to participate in soccer practice that was hosted by AIM base. It was fun and challenging because they were good at soccer and they were super fast. The next day my squad was split into two teams. One team went with a host family who has a ministry called the worship room. My team went to Parramos, where the beautiful prayer mountain is located. We are camping in our tents during the week. But we do have running water.
Let me tell you, after just a few short days I am just in love with the views, weather and the host that we are staying with. The weather at nighttime on the mountain can be cold. Like in the 40s. We buy our groceries before we head to the mountains for the week. My team and I take turns to cook meals for our team. The prayer mountain is a ministry called Dar Para Dar. The mission of the Dar Para Dar is to get the prayer mountain into a livable place. That way people can just go there and spend peaceful time praying, reading the Bible and spending quiet time with God. This week my team and I helped the host with running electrical cables down the mountain so that there is electricity there. We also helped with digging a platform down the woods hill to put a shed. Some of my teammates helped organize the stuff in the shed.
Friday was our sabbath on the mountain and we didn’t have Wi-Fi or service. It was a good time to slow down in life and spend time with the Lord. I am not use to doing nothing for the whole day. Back in the States, I worked a lot during the weekends and go for longer runs to keep myself busy. I was able to lay outside in the sun and read my Bible and spend time with Jesus and learn to hear his voice as I still need to practice doing. Also, I was able to walk and pray. Saturdays my team and I will be doing ministries in the city of Antigua where we will evangelize or do house visits etc. We will be staying in the city in an Airbnb until Monday. Sundays are our off day or adventure day. This Sunday my team and I went to church in the morning that spoke both Spanish and English. In the afternoon we shopped at the market to buy things that we need to live in the mountains and then we got groceries for the coming week. Mondays, my team and I will be doing ministry with the other team in the worship room. This first week has been a lot of learning how things work. Please continue to pray for my squad and team for growth in faith and in each other!
Thanks so much for reading my blog!
Here’s a picture of the prayer mountain in the morning!
Here’s a picture of the same mountain. It looks like the waterfall, but it’s just clouds!
Love you all!
Yu-Mei
Thanks for the update, YuMei! We were wondering how you were doing. Praying for you!
Thanks for the update! Many prayers for you and your team!
YuMei, The pictures are spectacular! It feels like holy moments to see that! I so appreciate hearing what your experience is like and how you are growing! It is a journey to slow down and get used to keeping a Sabbath day of rest. I’ve been practicing that for many years, and every week still feel like I can improve next time….and also see that I’ve made much progress as well. One of the big things that shifted for me was my attitude. For a lot of years it felt like an obligation – I HAVE TO – take time away from all the things that need to get done. Now I look at it as a privilege! Subconsciously I thought ‘I can rest when I get all my work done.’ = But what a lie from Satan! My work will never be done until I enter the Kingdom! So I get to take a break from that work once a week and cherish the God who created me, and all of the world, and get to celebrate that every week! And each week it looks different. I’m excited you’re getting a chance to savor the Sabbath rest and excited to see ways you’ll feel closer to God who loves you way more than any human ever has and intended for you to be born, and to be on that mountain, with your teammates for just such a time as this!